Bud Cauley kept gaining separation over the field Sunday at the RBC Canadian Open. By the time he finished, a once razor-thin margin turned into a two-stroke victory.
It was 36-year-old Cauley’s first win on Tour, coming in his 239th start.
His back nine at TPC Toronto included three consecutive birdies beginning at No. 11 — a chip-in on the par-4 12th in which he took the lead being the highlight-reel shot of his Sunday.
Jim Nantz called it a “shot of a lifetime” on the CBS broadcast.
FOR THE LEAD 🔥
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) June 14, 2026
Bud Cauley chips-in to take control of the lead 📈
📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/ca14mNapmp
“So many people helped me get here, and I’m just really thankful for all the help that I’ve gotten,” Cauley told CBS after finishing out on the 18th hole, fighting back tears.
“Once I got the opportunity to start playing again, I told myself I was going to do everything the right way and give myself the best chance,” added Cauley, who suffered six broken ribs and fractured left leg from a car accident in 2018 and played sparingly until 2024. “I put my wife through so much during those dark times and it’s just nice to have a little success as kind of a thank you.”
Cauley, who shot a second-round 63 on Friday, sat a stroke off Jackson Suber’s lead entering the final round. While most of the names near the top of the leaderboard fell off Sunday, Cauley got home in 65 — good for the second-lowest round of the day.
His back-nine birdie run started at the 206-yard 11th when his tee shot landed within 4 feet of the cup. The hole-out from 93 feet came next at No. 12.
Then it was a pair of birdie putts — a 13-footer on No. 13 followed by a 15-foot make two holes later.
“I hit a lot of good shots. I made a lot of good putts. I got a great break on 16 which was nice,” he said of saving par on the par-4 16th after his tee shot got a fortuitous bounce out of the trees. “I’m just very proud of the way I kind of kept going and continued to make birdies there on the back nine and I’m just, I’m so happy.”
Who’s the next first-time winner?
With Cauley off the schneid, the Tour’s list of players for the most starts without a title includes Patrick Rodgers, Mark Hubbard, Beau Hossler and Sam Ryder.
In addition snapping his winless streak, Cauley netted a $1.76 million check and is projected to move into 28th in the FedExCup Standings.
He opened the week ranked No. 68 on the Official World Golf Ranking.
Yellamaraju finishes as top Canadian
Matt Fitzpatrick finished second to take first place in the FedEx Cup standings. He eagled the 18th to tie for Sunday’s lowest-round at 6-under 64.
Viktor Hovland was third at 14 under after a Sunday 65. Suber, Jesper Svensson, Jimmy Stanger and Brice Garnett finished tied for fourth.
Perhaps the most interesting finish — other than Cauley ending up in the winner’s circle — was Canadian rookie Sudarshan Yellamaraju’s 12 under which landed him T-8 in front of the national home crowd.
The 24-year-old Yellamaraju just edged out Matthew Anderson for the honor and his third T-10 finish in 2026.
“We’re kind of just trying to push ourselves, when we’re playing — when we’re on the team, we’re playing back at home,” said Yellamaraju of Canada’s youth movement. “We’re trying to keep pushing ourselves to try to keep getting better and I think we keep cheering each other on even when we’re maybe not there in person or watching kind of from afar. So it was cool to see a lot of Canadians make the cut this week and then I saw on the leaderboard that with Matthew and Justin [Matthews], really playing some good golf and trying, almost having a chance to win.”
Here’s a look at how the 10 Canadians who made the 36-hole cut at Osprey Valley finished after the weekend:
